by Gareth Otton
Harry of all people, looking like a soaked-through troll in a Halloween SWAT costume, helped her to her feet. His lips moved, but she didn’t register the sound until he repeated his words.
“You alright?”
Sound flooded back all at once as her tired brain realised it wouldn't die and started paying attention to the world again.
She barely heard his words over the roar of rushing water. The wind was up, rain hit her face and there was a spray of water like she stood next to a waterfall. Without answering, she looked around and was stunned to find they stood in the centre of a thirty foot wide circle of sand. A wall of moving water spun around them like a cyclone, somehow keeping them from being swallowed up again. At the centre of that cyclone was a dreamwalker, and though he wasn’t the one Stella wished to see, he was a welcome sight.
Morris Hadsworth stood with hands stretched out like he was holding apart an invisible barrier, and he shook under some tremendous stress. His eyes darted about frantically and when they met hers she recognised his silent scream for help.
“DT Martin, are you okay?” Harry asked a third time.
“Yes… Thanks. How many of us has he saved?”
She tried counting, but her mind wasn’t up to the task yet.
“We’re missing Nicky and Fredrick, then we’ll all be here.”
“I’m not sure we can wait,” Stella responded. Slowly her mind was waking up, and she recognised they were not out of trouble yet.
“The hell we can’t. Morris can keep expanding the circle until—”
“Look at him, he’s exhausted,” Stella said. “We need to move to shore so he can let this Dream go and recover. It’s the only way we’ll survive.”
“So now we’ve pulled you out, you just want to save your own arse, is that it?” Harry asked, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around so she was looking him in the eye. Irritably she brushed his hand away and was surprised she could disengage the brute. Harry looked surprised as well and took a step back.
“Of course that’s not it. But look at him.” She forced Harry’s attention to Morris who shook harder than a pneumatic paint shaker. “How much longer do you think he can hold? You want to go back into the ocean when he fails?”
Harry watched the dreamwalker struggle for three long seconds before swearing and coming to the same conclusion Stella had. Standing straighter, he shouted to his people.
“Form up. We’re leaving.”
“But what about—” someone started, but Harry shouted over them.
“I said form up. We need to move quick.” He hurried to the dreamwalker and asked, “Can you walk or do you want me to carry you?”
Teeth clenched, Morris couldn’t answer.
“Carry him,” Stella said. “He can’t move like that.”
“What if moving him makes this water fall in?” Harry asked.
“That’ll happen eventually, anyway. Either we risk moving him and hope he can hold until we’re safe, or we wait for him to fail and drown here. Your choice.”
Harry swore, and though he knew she was right, he wasn’t happy about it. He raised his finger to point at her like he would tell her off, then thought better of it and turned back to the dreamwalker.
“Prepare yourself,” he said, then dipped his shoulder into Morris’ stomach and stood up with Morris thrown over that shoulder like a swag bag. He turned and shouted, “Follow me.”
Then he was running, and where he went the cyclone followed. Though her muscles burned from lack of oxygen, Stella started into a shambling run.
Strangely, that activity did wonders for her. She wasn’t sure if it was normal, but it forced her to concentrate on breathing, pulling new oxygen into her lungs at an increased rate. Two minutes into their run and she felt much better.
However, as they ran, the cyclone closed in. Morris gave it everything he had, but holding back that much water was too much for him. Stella stepped up behind Harry and caught the dreamwalker’s eye.
“You’re doing amazing, Morris. Just stay strong a little longer. We’re nearly there.”
He continued to shake and his eyes never moved, so she had no idea if he’d even heard her, but the cyclone held and they kept running forward.
After what felt like minutes Stella could finally see the battered buildings along the seafront and the slipway they’d arrived on. It was close enough that she knew they’d make it, but it amazed her how far it dragged them out to sea.
The circle continued to collapse, forcing the runners closer together. The moment Harry’s foot touched the concrete of the slipway, Morris’ eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp over the shoulder of the giant team-leader. The cyclone finally collapsed.
The water was another shock to the system, crashing against them and threatening to knock them over. However, it was nothing compared to the wave that pulled them out to sea and they withstood it. They rushed up the slipway, but not nearly fast enough. Stella was vaguely aware of something looming over her and she looked back to see another giant wave approaching.
Why now?
The mental question didn’t require much thought as she knew how a dreamwalker’s power worked almost as well as a dreamwalker did. Morris had created that circle of open water by diverting the forward momentum of the waves into a new direction. Now that he was no longer conscious, that water had returned to doing what it wanted and it looked like a tidal wave coming to reclaim them.
“Hurry,” Stella screamed as she upped her pace. However, she couldn’t outrun nature.
Over thirty feet above her head, the wave was starting to curl and break. The world went even darker as it started crashing down and for the second time Stella gave into the inevitable.
The sound of the water hitting the ground was like thunder in her ears, and it shook the ground so hard she struggled to stand. Yet strangely, it wasn’t crashing over them.
She looked around, eyes wide with wonder and terror as the wave split down the centre, crashing into the beach and buildings either side of the slipway, doing untold damage.
She glanced at Morris, but he remained unconscious and she knew their rescue hadn’t come from him.
Deciding not to overthink it, she continued up the slipway towards relative safety.
The crashing water created a spray that blocked the coastal village from view like a thick fog, but slowly it cleared and Stella saw a tall figure standing alone at the top of the slipway, arms raised towards the water. Three small shapes rushed around his feet, barking when they spotted her.
“Head toward the barking,” Stella shouted, feeling renewed strength in her limbs as she sensed their rescue was close. It didn’t hurt that she recognised the tall silhouette who was holding back the waves.
She dared to glance back as yet another wave washed in, but again this one split down the middle as the Dreamwalker, as the media liked to call him, diverted its forward energy down new paths. Again it came crashing hard enough to shake the world, but this time they were far enough away that she didn’t immediately feel like she’d gone deaf.
Then finally she reached him.
“Funny weather we’re having,” Tad said, and Stella could hear his smile more easily than she could see it. However, she could also hear the strain in his voice and knew that they needed to get out of here.
“Can you dreamwalk us all out?”
“Not alone. Diverting those waves took it out of me.” Stella was about to respond, but Tad continued talking. “I brought backup though. They should be able to help.”
“What are you talking about?” Stella asked, not believing for a second that Tad would bring Jen into this.
“Grab a puppy and form four groups. I’ll take the biggest group with me, but everyone else touch whoever is holding a puppy.”
“What?” Stella asked, wondering if he’d finally lost his mind.
“Trust me,” Tad said.
She wanted to argue, but she had put to bed the question of whether she tru
sted him or not months ago, so she did what she was told and reached for the nearest puppy.
It was an oddly coloured little thing and completely soaking wet, but it wagged a tiny tail as she scooped it up and pulled it close. It had strange markings over its face, almost like freckles, which struck her as strange for a moment before she brushed the thought aside.
“Do as he says, pick up the puppies,” Stella shouted to Harry’s team who looked at her like she was mad. However, whether because she asked them to or because they wouldn't leave the puppies to the ocean, they did as asked.
“Form up in groups,” Tad said as he moved to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You two grab Harry. You three take my other hand. The rest of you, touch someone holding a puppy, try to make it even.” Once everyone had done as he asked, Tad grinned and said, “Let’s hope this works.”
Then he vanished.
Everyone touching him vanished as well, but it left three groups of people standing in the rain looking confused and holding puppies. Before any of them could despair at being left behind, the puppy in the group to Stella’s right barked and suddenly that group vanished. Then the puppy with an odd spike of hair running down the centre of its head barked as well, then it too vanished.
Stella looked down to the freckled face of her own puppy to find it looking at her and wagging its tail.
“Aren’t you going to vanish too?” she asked, feeling stupid talking to a puppy.
The puppy barked happily like it understood her, and then the world changed.
There was no one to shout jump this time, so when Stella suddenly found herself in the artificial warmth of the garage back at the Dream Team headquarters, she doubled over, trying her hardest not to be sick. She was dimly aware that she wasn’t alone as everyone who had been rescued were struggling to hold down their lunch.
Suddenly exhausted, Stella collapsed to one knee and sucked in some much-needed oxygen. The puppy she still held was squirming, and soon enough it broke free. Before she could stop it, she was being showered in wet dog kisses all over her face.
She pushed it away as she came back to herself, but the little thing didn’t go far. It continued to stare at her, its head cocked to one side and its tail wagging.
Once it knew it had her attention, it barked again and rushed back in for another shot at licking her face. Absently, Stella picked it up and cuddled it close, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Less than a hundred miles away, a nightmare was using the ocean to reclaim a seaside town, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it.
For the first time since they formed the Dream Team, they had failed.
5
Monday, 04th July 2016
08:31
“As you can see, Tad Holcroft and all three Dream Team dreamwalkers helped with search and rescue late into the night. However, the question remains; what was so different about this nightmare that makes it the first nightmare the Dream Team couldn’t stop? I don’t have answers yet, but you’ll know as soon as I do.
“That’s all I have for you tonight. I’ll leave links in the description for charities I trust that are doing great things for the victims of nightmares. Every penny helps, but if you don’t have a penny, then there’s also links to volunteer groups who—”
The TV cut off mid-sentence, not giving Lizzie chance to complete her sign off. Tad deliberately didn’t look up as Stella threw the remote onto the sofa with an annoyed huff and decided he wanted to be somewhere else right now. Climbing to his feet, he headed for the kitchen and left Stella to brood. He was just in time to see three puppies sat at attention near the breakfast island, tails wagging as Jen was evenly dividing a slice of heavily buttered toast into three and passing it to snapping mouths.
“Hey, I fed those bottomless pits before you got up,” Tad said, making Jen jump. Her aura flared with startled white followed by an embarrassed pink before it settled into its usual shade.
“They’re growing puppies. They need food,” she protested. “Besides, I was full.”
Tad looked at the near empty bag that contained a fresh loaf of bread an hour ago. He didn’t need to say anything and the pink returned to Jen’s aura.
“They were hungry,” she repeated.
“Sure they were. It’s not like I made a special trip to the supermarket this morning after they ate us out of bacon and sausages.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” Jen said.
“Just remember, when it comes to food, these three are like politicians with the truth. You can’t trust them for a second.” Looking at the puppies who licked their chops and looked at him hopefully like he might have something for them, he added, “No, they’re worse than politicians, because at least with politicians you learn your lesson fast. These three will get you every time.”
As if in response to his words, the dog Jen had taken to calling Hawk barked.
“Quiet you,” Tad said, and the puppy barked again before climbing to its feet and attacking Tad’s trouser leg like it was its next lunch. Despite himself, Tad laughed as he fought off the little dog and turned his attention to Jen.
“You ready for school?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. I just have one or two bits of homework to do and I’ll be good to go.”
“What?” Tad asked, anger spiking. “Jen, what do you mean you—”
“Forget puppies and politicians, they’ve got nothing on Jen where you’re concerned,” Stella said as she entered the kitchen carrying an empty mug and plate. “She’s pulling your leg.”
Jen burst out laughing and, as if joining in, Hawk and the puppy Stella had been calling Freckles barked with her. The last puppy, the one who followed him into Dream yesterday, padded over and bumped his head against Tad’s leg before promptly flopping down to lie across his foot.
“At least someone’s on my side,” Tad muttered. “So no homework?”
Again Jen rolled her eyes. “No dad. Of course not. As soon as you make me lunch, I’ll be ready to go.”
“Why am I making you lunch? I think it’s time you start doing this for yourself, now you’re nearly thirteen.”
“Okay. I can do that. Where do you keep the chocolate and marshmallows?” she asked, climbing off her stool.
“On second thoughts, stay where you are,” Tad answered, and Stella snorted another laugh.
“Yep, definitely worse than politicians. She plays you like a fiddle, Holcroft,” Stella teased.
“Whatever,” Tad said as he slid his foot out from under a sleepy puppy and went to see if he could salvage enough bread to make Jen a sandwich.
“Speaking of being nearly thirteen, you decide on the guest list for your party?” Stella asked Jen.
“I thought you decided that last week?” Tad questioned as he looked up from the two remaining slices of bread. Stella sat on the stool next to Jen and shook her head.
“There was a holdout, right Jen? You weren’t sure whether you wanted to invite that Robert boy, or not.”
“What? Robert. Who the hell is Robert?” Tad asked as Stella grinned and Jen’s aura blushed to the deepest pink of the morning.
“No one,” Jen snapped, shooting Stella a glare that Tad suspected was girl code for shut the hell up.
“Oh, my mistake,” Stella said.
“Who’s Robert?” Tad asked again, which was too much for Jen.
“No one,” she all but shouted as she shot Stella another look before jumping off her stool and heading for the door. “I forgot to brush my teeth,” she lied as she rushed out the room and stomped up the stairs.
Barking with delight, Hawk ran after her, making almost as much noise on the stairs as Jen.
“Who’s Robert?” Tad asked Stella, but she just told him not to worry.
Frowning, Tad turned back to the sandwich, or tried to. There was a puppy laying across his feet once again.
“You’re making this much more difficult than necessary,” Tad pointed out. He tried to slide his foot out from under t
he dog, but this time he just slid the dog across the floor. The only response he got from the adorable little creature was a sleepy look and a half hearted wag of its tail. Tad snorted and shook his head, trying not to laugh again.
Don’t get too attached, Holcroft. They’ve got to go back to their proper home soon, he told himself, and soon lost his smile.
“So much for her being on our side,” Stella announced. Judging by her tone, Tad guessed she wasn’t talking about Jen.
“Who?”
“Lizzie. I thought she was supposed to be helping, then she does that hatchet job and—”
“Hatchet job?” Tad interrupted as he fetched ham and salad from the fridge. Suddenly the puppy didn’t look so sleepy anymore. “I thought her coverage was better than the normal news. At least she us helping search and rescue. Between Trevor’s guys lending some muscle and our dreamwalkers helping with stuff they couldn’t normally get to, I think we came off pretty well.”
Stella snorted. “Hardly. She focused too much on this being the one nightmare we couldn’t stop. And just how the hell did she know that? That’s what I want to know. She’s always too quick and too confident throwing around facts like that. I swear to God, it’s like she’s got a mole in the DT or something.”
Tad glanced up, sensing her looking at him.
“Don’t look at me, I didn’t tell her anything.”
Stella stared for another half second before whatever sixth sense she had for the truth told her he wasn’t lying and she looked away. Almost absently, she picked up the dog she had started calling Freckles and deposited him in her lap as she continued to sulk over the situation.
“She’s a pain in my arse,” she said. “I think I need to have words with her later today.”
“Why don’t you forget about her and think about what we will say to Norman. You know he’ll be furious,” Tad said. “Not that it's our fault. There’s only so much we can do.”
“We should have done more,” Stella insisted. “I need to get more investigators on hand so they can search for the dreamer in real time. We should have two dreamwalkers on every team instead of one. We need situational reports from the actual nightmare before I march a whole tactical team into a natural disaster and get two people killed. We need—”